Self-Perception and Social Perception

Clark and Clark (1947) doll preference study

situation: showing white and Black children a Black doll and a white doll and measuring preference

findings: majority of white and Black children preferred the white doll over the Black doll

hierarchy of salience

in which identities are organized according to that which holds the most importance in a given situation; the more salient the identity, the more we conform to the role expectations of the identities

Bandura’s self-efficacy theory

an individual’s belief in their ability to organize and execute a particular pattern of behavior, based on performance accomplishments, vicarious experiences, social persuasion, and physiological and emotional states

social perception

the ways in which people form impressions about the characteristics of individuals and groups of people

primacy effect

wherein the first impression of something is more important than subsequent impressions

recency effect

wherein the most recent information one has about an individual is most important in forming an impression

attribution theory

the tendency for individuals to infer the causes of other people’s behavior

dispositional attribution

causes that relate to the features of the person whose behavior is being considered, including beliefs, attitudes, and personality characteristics

situational attribution

causes that are external and relate to features of the surroundings, including threats, money, social norms, and peer pressure

fundamental attribution error

the tendency to attribute others’ behavior to dispositional causes and one’s own behavior to situational causes

halo effect

the tendency to allow a general impression about a person to influence other, more specific evaluations about a person

belief in a just world (BJW)

the belief that good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people